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Wednesday, March 05, 2014

A quick break from the Martin St. Louis-Ryan Callahan news to inform everybody that Henrik Lundqvist was the first goalie off the ice at today’s morning skate and will start tonight against the Maple Leafs after being given Tuesday off from practice as a maintenance day of rest.

Lundqvist was in net for both the Rangers 4-2 loss at Philadelphia on Saturday and Sunday’s 6-3 loss to the visiting Bruins, his first two games after playing all six games in leading Sweden to the silver medal in the Olympics.

Coach Alain Vigneault on Tuesday said he wanted to talk to Lundqvist this morning before deciding whether either he or Cam Talbot would get the call tonight.

“That was a good opportunity to get an extra day,” Lundqvist said of Tuesday’s day off. “It was an intense tournament we played in. Coming back, it was important to put it behind you.”

Lundqvist made 27 in each of the two defeats.

“It’s not enough to just play OK, you need to be on top of your game,” Lundqvist said. “I think they were not bad goals (in those games) but it’s a matter of coming up with the big save at the right time, then it’s a different game. That’s what I mean by just being OK, it’s not good enough. There was the breakaway and you need to come up with the save there. A lot of times you do, but sometimes you don’t and that’s the difference, a lot of times, beteen winning and losing.”

Ryan McDonagh, who was also given Tuesday off due to the heavy load of minutes he’s played both for the Rangers and Team USA in the Olympics, also participated in today’s full-squad morning squad skate, with four stitches in his left cheek after being hit by a puck in Sunday’s game. He said, physically, he’s fine and said, coming back from the Olympics maybe his “legs weren’t going to be there, but I’m fine.”
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About

ANDREW GROSS covers the New York Rangers for The Record and Herald News, having joined the North Jersey Media Group in November 2007. Gross also covered the Rangers and New York Jets, as well as St. John’s basketball and Army football, for Gannett Newspapers and The Journal News (N.Y.). He graduated from Syracuse University in 1989 with a degree in newspaper journalism.